


in which dance remixes of classic rock music are a generally terrible idea but maybe not entirely

by janie_tangerine



Series: springsteen-related tumblr prompts [4]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bars and Pubs, Bruce Springsteen References, Canon Gay Character, Dorks, Flirting, M/M, Meet-Cute, Music, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-13 23:50:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21006209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janie_tangerine/pseuds/janie_tangerine
Summary: “What the hell,” Jon says out loud, “is this garbage?”“I see you’ve been out of the scene for a while?” Someone else asks, as in, the barman, but Jon barely even notices him because he’s at his fourth cocktail, this entire place is killing his will to live, he’s definitely not getting laid and who the fuck thought that a dance version of Because The Night was a good idea?“I never was in the scene,” he replies, without even caring for who he’s talking to, “and excuse me but what the fuck is that? I mean, fine, no one knows it’s a Springsteen song, whatever, but like, how the hell you take that and turn it into that dance remix garbage? You take a song about how much people yearn for each other with that music and which was written to be played on darned electric guitars and you turn it into this - this trash? What the fresh hell? I already got dragged here but I’m not listening to Springsteen getting hacked with a goddamned hatchet while my ears bleed, for -”Then he realizes he’s just about ranted at someone he barely even looked at.





	in which dance remixes of classic rock music are a generally terrible idea but maybe not entirely

**Author's Note:**

> Aaand this was the last prompt for the Springsteen-related prompts for September - an anon wanted _JoncXBrynden in which Shy JonC is awkward at a gay club until he starts ranting to the barman about Bruce (maybe a trashy cover because the night is playing?) but lo and behold the barman is a Patti stan and they hit it off with flirty bickering _ and WHO AM I TO SAY NO TO SUCH A DELIGHTFUL REQUEST? have some redfish everyone, exactly what it says on the tin ;) the title for once is half-assed and as usual I only own the crack. ;)

Jon is _never_, ever again going to listen to Oberyn in his life.

Or well, at least concerning _this_ matter.

_You need to go out_, he said. _You need to think about other people that aren’t Rhaegar_, he said. _I’m bringing Arthur and everyone else with if you don’t want to stick out too much,_ he said. _It will be so much fun_, he said.

Except that he _knows_ Jon hates clubbing - bars are okay because no one wants to dance as a given -, Jon hates _club music_, Jon also generally hates gay bars because somehow every time he goes he’s surrounded by people who are way too young for him or never look _right_ and who want to _dance_ and he was told that he liked old people music from his choice in t-shirts when he was still in uni, and Jon also doesn’t believe in hook-ups - he tried that. Didn’t go over well.

Still. He figured he’d say yes, for once.

_Of course_, everything went as predicted, as in: the place isn’t technically _bad_ but the music is atrocious, there’s too much glitter everywhere, Oberyn and Ellaria found some third person to smooch with for the night, Arthur disappeared with some girl a while ago leaving _him_ with Jaime Lannister who went because Arthur dragged him as _he needed to go out_ too, except that he’s also decidedly _not_ into guys and he was more miserable than Jon. _Then_ they both had a stroke of luck in the sense that Lannister, being way too drunk for anyone’s own liking, had literally stumbled into the next person sitting at the bar, as in this girl taller and with larger shoulders than him who was there with two other friends who also fucked off making out on the dance floor, and who was also decidedly _not_ into other girls, and now they’re making out in a corner and she assured Jon she was sober and she’d bring Lannister home, and she seemed like a nice, reasonable person, so Jon figured they’d be fine.

Now _he_ is stuck at the bar turning people down because like hell he’s going to say yes to someone who calls him _daddy_ without even knowing him - or _period_, thanks so very much, and he’s drinking a fruity cocktail he’s really not liking when some vaguely familiar music starts. It’s some dance beat that he doesn’t care for, but _something_ about it somehow makes him feel like he’s already heard it. Everyone at the bar jumps into the dance floor, he drinks more of his cocktail that barely even tastes like alcohol -

_Take me now, baby here as I am,  
Hold me close, try and understand_ -

_Wait a moment_, Jon thinks.

_Desire and hunger is the fire I breathe -_

“What the hell,” Jon says out loud, “is this garbage?”

“I see you’ve been out of the scene for a while?” Someone else asks, as in, the barman, but Jon barely even notices him because he’s at his fourth cocktail, this entire place is killing his will to live, he’s definitely not getting laid and _who the fuck thought that a dance version of _Because The Night _was a good idea_?

“I never was _in_ the scene,” he replies, without even caring for who he’s talking to, “and excuse me but what the fuck is _that_? I mean, _fine_, no one knows it’s a Springsteen song, _whatever_, but like, how the hell you take _that_ and turn it into that dance remix garbage? You take a song about how much people yearn for each other with _that_ music and which was written to be played on darned electric guitars and you turn it into this - this trash? What the fresh hell? I already got dragged here but I’m not listening to Springsteen getting hacked with a goddamned hatchet while my ears bleed, for -”

Then he realizes he’s just about ranted at someone he barely even _looked_ at.

“Shit,” he says, “I’m - not sober,” he finishes, lamely enough, and then he looks up at the guy to apologize properly and _oh_.

The guy is looking at him like he’s _amused_ and not bored or put out by his ranting. He’s also older than him for a change, and if the darned blue flashing lights aren’t completely making Jon see colors that don’t exist, he has a pair of _really_ nice blue eyes, auburn hair with _maybe_ some streaks of grey here and there, a nice, well-kept beard, and -

He has a Patti Smith t-shirt.

“Believe me,” the guy says, “I don’t say it out loud because I work here and whatnot, but if you think _my_ ears aren’t bleeding right now, mate, you’re sorely wrong.”

“Well,” Jon says, “at least _her_ version has dignity.”

“Oh,” the guy smirks back, “_dignity_ now?” He stares at Jon’s shirt - _yes_ it’s an original from the Born in the USA tour he did _not_ attend because he was barely _born_ in the eighties but he found it at a vintage shop - with a slight smile on his face. “That’s a bit heavy to say considering that it’s _her_ song these days.”

“Not disagreeing on it,” Jon says, “but _his_ lyrics are superior as far as I’m concerned _and_ the lack of solos in her version makes it feel too polished. My humble opinion at least.”

“Why does it seem like you have a lot of feelings about the lack of solos?”

The guy is _smirking_ by now, though.

Jon smirks back. He thinks he likes him. Definitely more than he’s liked anyone since he decided it was time to get over Rhaegar.

“Why does it seem like you never experienced _hearing_ them in person?”

“Oh, you’re telling me I need to go see His Almighty Springsteen-ess in the flesh to realize the error of my ways?”

“I’m telling you that after the tenth time you do, it’s religious experience level, just without the usual old, the guilt tripping, the priest making you feel like you should erase yourself from existence and a lot more sweat thrown in the middle.”

“Intriguing,” the bartender says, “let’s say that I’m off shift in half an hour and I’m down with being convinced. What would you say to _that_?”

Jon glances at the other side of the room. Lannister and the lucky find girl are _still_ locking lips, Oberyn is nowhere to be found, no one else in their group is _anywhere_ to be found, his cellphone is silent.

Well, the point was that _he_ had to meet people, right?

He holds out a hand. “Jon,” he says. “I’m saying I’m amenable to stick another half hour listening to this drivel.”

“Brynden,” the bartender says, shaking it. “And that’s good. If it consoles you, if I ever end up in charge of the music, this crap is getting deleted from the playlist forever.”

Jon decides that maybe he’s _not_ going to regret having come here at all.

End.


End file.
